PURPOSES : Water content causes a big problem in terms of the quality and economy of the asphalt plant. However, the current guidelines do not suggest specific rules other than roof installation. Therefore, this study proposes a water content management index, QM, and management flow chart by analyzing the water content variability of the stockpile and cold bin aggregates and suggests a guideline rule for improving water content management, including stockpile floor inclination via analysis of slope stability. METHODS : To analyze the variability of water content in the asphalt plant, stockpile and cold bin aggregate samples were collected from the asphalt plant over two years and a water content lab test was conducted via sieve analysis. In addition, domestic and foreign water content management guidelines were compared and the economic effect was analyzed according to water content DB analysis for the importance of water content management. The influence factors of water content variability were also analyzed. To apply the 3σ quality management technique for the development of the water content management index, QM, a water content management limit and procedure was proposed through the asphalt mix design. RESULTS : As a result of analyzing the water content variability, it was found that the water content of the stockpile fine aggregates should be intensively managed immediately after the rainy season and the QM index developed in this study should be 1 or more. In addition, as a result of the stability analysis according to the change in the stockpile floor inclination, it was found that the safety factor was lowered according to the slope angle and floor inclination. CONCLUSIONS : In the past, a passive method of preventing rainwater with a roof was used for water content management and ambiguous qualitative rules were suggested in the guidelines. In this study, a procedure for managing the water content of asphalt plant aggregates using the QM index, a quantitative stock floor inclination chart, and rules for improving water content management were presented for the quality control of asphalt plant aggregates.

PURPOSES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the mechanical properties of a cold-recycling asphalt mixture used as a base layer and to determine the optimum emulsified-asphalt content for ensuring the mixture’s performance. METHODS: The physical properties (storage stability, mixability, and workability) of three types of asphalt emulsion (CMS-1h, CSS-1h, and CSS-1hp) were evaluated using the rotational viscosity test. Asphalt emulsion residues, prepared according to the ASTM D 7497-09 standard, were evaluated for their rheological properties, including the G*/sinδand the dynamic shear modulus (|G*|). In addition, the Marshall stability, indirect tensile strength, and tensile-strength ratio (TSR) were evaluated for the cold-recycling asphalt mixtures fabricated according to the type and contents of the emulsified asphalt. RESULTS: The CSS-1hp was found to be superior to the other two types in terms of storage stability, mixability, and workability, and its G*/sinδ value at high temperatures was higher than that of the other two types. From the dynamic shear modulus test, the CSS-1hp was also found to be superior to the other two types, with respect to low-temperature cracking and rutting resistance. The mixture test indicated that the indirect tensile strength and TSR increased with the increasing emulsified-asphalt content. However, the mixtures with one-percent emulsified-asphalt content did not meet the national specification in terms of the aggregate coverage (over 50%) and the indirect tensile strength (more than 0.4 MPa). CONCLUSIONS : The emulsified-asphalt performance varied greatly, depending on the type of base material and modifying additives; therefore, it is considered that this will have a great effect on the performance of the cold-recycling asphalt pavement. As the emulsified-asphalt content increased, the strength change was significant. Therefore, it is desirable to apply the strength properties as a factor for determining the optimum emulsified-asphalt content in the mix design. The 1% emulsified-asphalt content did not satisfy the strength and aggregate coverage criteria suggested by national standards. Therefore, the minimum emulsified-asphalt content should be specified to secure the performance.

OBJECTIVES: Bituminous materials, such as tack coat, are utilized between pavement layers for improving the bond strength in pavement construction sites. The standards regarding the application of bituminous material are not clearly presented in the Korean construction guideline without RS(C)-4. Hence, the objective of this study is to determine the optimum content of bituminous materials by analyzing interlayer shear strength (ISS) from the direct shear tester, which was developed in this research. The shear strength of tack coat was defined with the sort of bituminous materials. METHODS : The mixtures for the shear test were made using marshall mix design. The specimens were vertically and horizontally separated for the direct shear test. The separated specimens were bonded using bituminous material. The objectives of the experiment are to determine the performance of bond and shear properties resulting from slippage, rutting, shovel, and corrugation of asphalt pavements. A machine based on the Louisiana interlayer shear strength tester (LISST) of NCHRP Report-712 was developed to determine the ISS. The applied types of tack coat were RS(C)-4, AP-3, QRS-4, and BD-coat with contents of 0.3ℓ/m2, 0.45ℓ/m2, 0.6ℓ/m2, and 0.8ℓ/m2, respectively. RESULTS: Table 2 gives the results of the direct shear test using the developed shear machine. The BD-coat type indicated the highest average ISS value compared to the others. Between the surface and binder course, optimum tack coat application rates for AP-3, RS(C)-4, QRS-4, and BD-Coat were 0.6ℓ/m2, 0.3ℓ/m2, 0.6ℓ/m2, and 0.45ℓ/m2, respectively. These optimum contents were determined using the ISS value. CONCLUSIONS: The ISS values of AP-3, RS(C)-4, and QRS-4 showed similar tendencies when ISS increased in the range 0.3~0.6ℓ/m2, while ISS decreased when the applied rate exceeded 0.6ℓ/m2. Similarly, the highest ISS value of the BD-coat was observed when the applied rate was 0.45 ℓ/m2. However, shear strength was similar to the maximum value of ISS when the tack-coat application rate of BD-Coat exceeded 0.45ℓ/m2.